Chapter Text
TACHYCARDIA
The term tachycardia means fast heart rate, which is usually defined as faster than 100 beats/min in an adult. Some causes of tachycardia include increased body temperature, dehydration, blood loss anemia, stimulation of the heart by sympathetic nerves and toxic conditions of the heart.
Hall, J. E., & Guyton, A. C. (2011). Guyton and Hall textbook of medical physiology. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders Elsevier.
It started with hello. A simple acknowledgement. An exchange of handshakes. An early morning greeting that should be just like any other. But it wasn’t. It was more than those things.
She was a doctor. A third year resident. A rational individual. Love at first sight does not happen in real life. Love was an abstract thought concocted from a mixture of neurotransmitters, hormones and neuropeptides. Something was just wrong with her limbic system.
She took another surreptitious glance at the man beside her. He was shaking hands with the other professors as he introduced himself. Professor Ahn Jeongwon. A pediatric surgeon. One of the 48 others they have in South Korea.
The youngest son of Yulje’s late chairman, the nurses whispered amongst themselves.
A chaebol and a doctor. An individual who won the jackpot in life, they would giddily add.
Therefore it should not be a surprise. The department had weeks to prepare to welcome the newest addition to their crew. Another surgeon that would be Dr. Jang Gyeoul’s supervisor. The lone pediatric surgeon in the whole hospital. She would be shadowing him, working under his wings and learn new techniques regarding his specialization.
Jang Gyeoul has never believed she could fall in love at first sight. But here she was. Standing stupidly in front of her supervisors. Traces of milk on her lips, a smushed piece of bread tightly clutched on her fingers.
She took another glance at the new professor who shook her hands earlier. He was still smiling so brightly, eyes crinkling at the corners. She could feel her heartbeat speed up as he caught her eye again, smiling at her direction. Was she getting tachycardic?
Discreetly she felt her pulse, slowed her breathing and counted the number of beats per minute. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. She kept counting, while glancing at the clock and listening to the snippets of conversation around her.
He was from Kangwoon Medical Center. His mother was fine, just resting in Yangpyeong. His other friends, doctors he recruited would also be coming in today.
It was trivial things but she could not help but lean in closer towards the conversation while she continued to count her pulse. One thirty three. One thirty four. One thirty five. Her heart was beating faster than normal.
Professor Ahn Jeongwon finally bid his goodbyes but not before promising to come back later that day to meet the others. As he turned towards the door, Jang Gyeoul could still feel the erratic beating of her heart, her hands clammy, her bread still on her clenched fist and an irrational thought popping on her mind.
Is this what falling in love feels like?